28 Enlightening Life Lessons From My 28 Years

28 Enlightening Life Lessons From My 28 Years

Challenge your mind and blossom

Entering into the late 20s is scary. You straddle between being considered young but you also have several years experience in the real world.

We all live our lives at different paces. It is easy to compare to others. Some people are happily married, some people are high-flying in their careers and some people are simply loving life.

As I turn 28, I think I’m the best version of myself and here are some of the mantras I try to live by.

Yes, I’m uncool enough to keep track of quotes that inspire me and no, I won’t apologize.

I hope you find value in these and it challenges any mindsets bringing you unhappiness!

#1 Appreciate the everyday

“Set up a life you don’t need to escape from” — Seth Godin

#2 Confidence can mask insecurity

“Be kind for everyone you meet is fighting a battle” — Ian MacLaren

#3 Aggression is the last option but still an option

“So be nice, be nice, until it’s time to stop being nice, then destroy them” — Laurell K. Hamilton

#4 Do not suffer in silence

“If you are silent about your pain, they’ll kill you and say you enjoyed it “— Zora Neale

#5 There’s always a way to help people

“When a flower doesn’t bloom, you fix the environment in which the flower grows not the flower” — Alexander Den Heijer

#6 There isn’t a magic solution to happiness

“The grass is greener where you water it “— Neil Barringham

#7 Do what you love

“Aerodynamically, the bumble bee shouldn’t be able to fly but the bumble bee doesn’t know it so goes on flying anyway “— Mary Kay Ash

#8 Never value things above people

“Love people and use things because the opposite never works “— The Minimalists

#9 Perspective matters

“The mind is its own place and in itself can make heaven or hell and hell of heaven “— John Milton

#10 Hard work is overrated

“Work smarter not harder” — Allen F. Morgenstern

#11 Practice makes permanent

“Only perfect practice makes perfect” — Vince Lombardi

#12 Don’t waste your life complaining

“Everything that happens is either endurable or not. If it’s endurable, then endure it. Stop complaining. If it’s unendurable… then stop complaining. Your destruction will mean its end as well. Just remember: you can endure anything your mind can make endurable, by treating it as in your interest to do so. In your interest, or in your nature.” — Marcus Aurelius

#13 Everyone can teach me something

“Everyone you will ever meet knows something you don’t.” — Bill Nye

#14 Stop expecting everyone else to do what you want

‘I always wondered why somebody didn’t do something about that. Then I realized I was somebody’ — Lily Tomlin

#15 Don’t blame others when you aren’t helping yourself

“Blaming others is nothing more than excusing yourself.” — Robin Sharma

#16 Don’t get complacent

“Good is the enemy of great.” — James C. Collins

#17 Vulnerability is not weakness

“Vulnerability is the birthplace of innovation, creativity and change.”― Brene Brown

#18 Delay gratification

“Success usually comes down to choosing the pain of discipline over the ease of distraction. “— James Clear

#19 Stop obsessing over bad news

“There’s no room for facts when our minds are occupied by fear.” ― Hans Rosling

#20 Question whether something is fact or a shared story

“We have, as human beings, a storytelling problem. We’re a bit too quick to come up with explanations for things we don’t really have an explanation for.”
― Malcolm Gladwell

#21 Work can be enjoyable!

“The opposite of play isn’t work. It’s depression.”
Brian Sutton-Smith

#22 Never tell someone they are wrong in an argument

“You can’t make a dog happy by forcibly wagging its tail. And you can’t change people’s minds by utterly refuting their arguments.”
― Jonathan Haidt, The Righteous Mind

#23 Life is more important than work

“Imagine life is a game in which you are juggling five balls. The balls are called work, family, health, friends, and integrity. And you’re keeping all of them in the air. But one day you finally come to understand that work is a rubber ball. If you drop it, it will bounce back. The other four balls…are made of glass. If you drop one of these, it will be irrevocably scuffed, nicked, perhaps even shattered.” — James Patterson

#24 Focus on the process, not the end product

“Focus on the process (the way you spend your time) instead of the product (what you want to accomplish).”
― Barbara Oakley

#25 We aren’t as smart as we think we are

“We are all confident idiots” — David Dunning

#26 Knowing yourself is the greatest achievement

“Knowing others is wisdom, knowing yourself is Enlightenment.” — Lao Tzu

#27 Who you are matters more than what you’ve done

“What you get by achieving your goals is not as important as what you become by achieving your goals.” — Henry David Thoreau

#28 Choose to be happy

“Happiness is a choice that requires effort sometimes. “— Aeschylus

I hope the mantras that I use and have collected over the years speak to you and give you value.

Have a wonderful day! (And happy birthday to me.